Max had gotten everyone
checked in, and had made himself comfortable in one of the large, fluffy chairs
that dotted the hotel lobby. The lobby
was huge, with vaulted ceilings, and wide, open-air arches that let the warm
ocean breeze drift through the throngs of excited tourists. The whole room was decked out in white
marble, and the furniture was a soft, papaya pink.
The place looked like a
dream.
Rita plopped down in the
chair across from him, leaning back. He
could see small beads of sweat trickling down her neck. She fanned herself, and let out a laugh. “After the winter we had, I don’t think I’m
really ready for tropical heat.”
“You’ll adjust.” He leaned back, taking a deep breath. The air was salty, with the faint scent of
sweet tanning oil and fruity drinks.
“The van to the Witch
House is set to leave in a few minutes.
You sure you want to do the scout and intro first thing?” Rita pulled her backpack onto her lap, and
pulled out her laptop.
“I just want to get
anything related to work done as soon as possible.” He leaned forward. “Who’d you manage to get for crew?”
“That would be me!” Ashtyn sat on the arm of Rita’s chair. She smiled, giving him a single wave.
“She seemed interested,
and I couldn’t find any locals, so…” Rita shrugged.
He wasn’t sure if
bringing Ashtyn along was such a great idea.
Sure, she knew how to deal with the supernatural stuff, but could she
handle equipment?
As if reading his mind,
Ashtyn stood up and patted him on the shoulder.
“I worked tech crew on my college news channel. I’m not a pro, but I know my way around a
C-stand and lights.”
“And I get to be your
camera guy for this one.” Rita didn’t
look up from her laptop. “With Rico out,
hiring a new camera guy was up to Liz, and… well, she didn’t think we needed
the extra expense.”
At least Rita knew how to
use the audio and visual equipment.
Still, he was getting the feeling that this particular episode was going
to require a good amount of post production to clean it up.
“It is what it is. We’re just lucky Liz didn’t follow us down
here.” Max rubbed his temples. His producer had been a headache before the
trip, and the last thing he needed was her trying to ruin whatever free time he
could muster.
“About that…” Rita closed
her laptop, her face scrunched in an “I’m sorry” pout.
“She didn’t.” Max just shook his head.
“She did.” Rita sighed.
“She’ll meet us at the house during the scout. Don’t worry though, the network refused to
put her up in our hotel, and God knows she wouldn’t pay for her own hotel room,
so she’ll at least be sleeping on the other side of the island. Plus, when the episode is done, it’s bye bye
bitchy.”
“Don’t get your hopes
up.” Liz’s voice made everyone
freeze. Even Ashtyn looked spooked, and
she had never met the woman before.
The three of them turned
to see Liz standing the lobby, arms crossed, hair pulled back tight and a scowl
across her face.
“Liz, I’d say it was nice
to see you, but I’m to tired to lie.”
Max stood.
“You may think that this
is going to be some romantic getaway on the company dime, but…” Liz wasted no
time getting in Max’s face.
“It’s on my dime, Liz.” He smiled. “I’m
supplying the majority of the funding for this episode, not the network. So, while I understand that you are here to
represent the network’s interest in the series, you will not dictate my
schedule, or the schedule of my crew.”
Max looked her square in
the eyes. When they had started working
together, Liz was like a different person.
She actually smiled, and laughed.
She was always business minded, but back then she had known how to have
fun. Once the show took off, though, she
changed. Suddenly it wasn’t about the
show, but about who had more control.
He knew that his staff
hated Liz, and most of the time he did too, but they didn’t know the Liz he had
started out with. Happy memories could
only account for so much, though, and as much as Max hated to admit it, if Liz
decided she would make this trip difficult, he would replace her.
Rita’s cellphone started
chirping the bars of some lyric less pop song, and the sound seemed to cut
through the growing tension that had invaded the lobby.
“Perfect!” Rita hopped up. “The van is early. How about Ashtyn and I go load up the gear,
and you two... keep shooting death rays at each other. Kay?
Perfect.”
Rita grabbed Ashtyn’s
hand, and pulled her away, leaving Max alone with his old friend, and current
enemy.
“What do you mean you’re
supplying the funding for this episode?”
Liz’s voice was a low hiss.
“I mean, I’m taking the
reigns back for this one.” Max never
broke his gaze. “Networks don’t like the
idea of change when there is money at risk, so I removed the risk. This isn’t just a format change, Liz.”
Liz stepped back, looking
shocked. “What are you talking about? There is no way the network would replace
your show.”
“The ratings haven’t been
all that great, and they want something fresh.”
He did his best to hide the smile threatening to crack across his
face. “We’re giving them a new
series. After the first cut of the
Fantasy Land episode, and a little ass kissing from me, they ordered a full
twelve episode series.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Max couldn’t believe it. Liz actually
looked hurt. She wasn’t angry, mad or
furious. She was hurt.
“I…” He knew he had to
say it, but suddenly it didn’t feel like so much of a victory to him. “I’m not sure if I want you on the new
series. So, this is your test. I don’t want this Liz, this angry, bitchy,
nasty woman who belittles her crew. I
want the old Liz. I want the person who
would stay up with me until sunrise figuring out new episode concepts, and who
had a blast when she would jump in and work one of the lock ins with me.”
“This is a business, Max,
not summer camp.” Liz’s anger was returning.
“Yeah, but my crew is
people, Liz, not machines to be bossed around.”
Max turned, and started towards the front doors of the hotel. “Grow a
heart, or find a new show to terrorize.”
He waited for Liz’s
response, but there was none. He glanced
over his shoulder, and Liz stood there, her face red, her hands balled into
fists and a small trickle of tears streaming down her cheeks.
He felt like a grade A
asshole for what he had just done, but he knew he had to do it. Still, he felt his heart tug slightly at the
sight of someone he had once considered a close friend crying because of
something he had said.
He turned his head. If he was going to be in charge of the new
show, then he had to make the tough decisions, and sometimes he would have to
be the bad guy. You didn’t make it in
this business by playing nice. You made
it by playing smart.
He just wished smart
didn’t hurt so much.
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